Inspiration

This song has a beautiful and tragic story. When I spoke to Classified about it last year, he told me that it was true as well.



- Classified "Inspiration" from the album "Self Explanatory"

Crates to Concrete

"From my beginnings as a studio rap tunes 
Kids cut class but I'd be rapping in my high school bathrooms 
Clap boom with freestyle and mix while
thick tiles, reviberatin' sounds I kicks wild
Whatever worked I rearanged it right
Putting my brain in tight flows
remained in night mode,
it strained til light glows til sunrise,
burnin' my eyes til I'm close so I finished it right,
Yo put up the mic, ah one two, check it check
and yo don't step I keep my memory set
maintained and do I screwed up to get ahead, but like my man said
it's gonna turn from green to red
so bring the breaks for the lyrics tapes so they can hear it
thinks they don't fear it wait til they can clear it
with tapes and the emcee at the mix shows thinkin' in quick flows,
I'm waitin' for my chance to flip prose
Save the drama for your baby mama 
I wrote a comma at the end of ninety one
I'm back to bomb ya kid
you better come correct to streets save the week,
cause we're brining it from crates to concrete.

- Kish "Crates to Concrete" from the 1994 album A Nation of Hoods.

Check out Silent Cacophony today to see the autograph I got from Kish back when this album first dropped.

Lost Sight

Here it is, Muneshine's favourite track from the legendary emcee, D-sisive.



- D-sisive "Lost Sight" Remix

If you like this old school track, check out

D-sisive Then - The university newspaper article / interview I wrote from nearly 10 years ago.

D-sisive Now - The radio interview I did with him earlier this summer.

Canadian Hip-Hop Heads Need To See This

"They call me the Godfather of Canadian hip-hop, but I’ve been studying Shad, studying D-Sisive, I’ve been studying Saukrates. I’m a student of hip-hop – that’s how we grow."

- Maestro Fresh Wes

This is an amazing post and video that every Canadian hip-hop head needs to check.

http://www.astorynoonetold.com/blog/2010/7/1/pass-the-mic-8-mcs-blow-up-the-history-of-canadian-rap.html

I've only taken one small piece of it to post up on Anything Goes Fridays. Please click the link to see and read more.

This Female MC is Amazing!

I've been a fan of Eternia since I first heard her about ten years ago. I recently met her and conducted an interview that will be posted on Silent Cacophony soon. I tell ya, if I wasn't a fan before that, I love her even more now. She was such an awesome person to talk to.

Her new album, At Last with producer MoSS came out yesterday. It is simply amazing. I love it.

If you like this video, please go out and support two amazing artists by buying their album. MoSS has been making a lot of noise lately producing some bangers for quite a few different artists.

I hope you enjoy this video.

Northern Touch (Canadian Classic)

"Yo, We notorious
Ain't nobody can't bang with us
Rascalz, Checkmate, Kardinal and Thrust
Choclair comin' down wit the Northern Touch
Yo, why you people wanna bang wit us?
Ain't nobody can't hang with us
Rascalz, Checkmate, Kardinal and Thrust
Choclair comin' down wit the Northern (ticka) Touch, baby

(Misfit of Rascalz)

Check the lingo we spread through out the atmosphere
So distinctive no other style comes near
So when you here, you got to peer over the legde
To get a glance to know who is the man with the talent
Rippin' the words like my body on the apparatus
Sky's the limit so we're bound to break through the strattus
With these rhymes that are classic
Forget the fazzle, the fashion
Step in some make on the microphone
Hey, yo world domination the base of the foundation
No time wasted
Fire walk, we trail blazing
Burn to the next destination
Flexing on this world exploration,
Teamed with the best in the nation
Yes, so who dat be?
Cause I'ma design fine rhymes at this salary
All the way from T. to the Van City, all stars
School boys treat you like a fantasy
Word up

(Choclair)

Yes, yes, from the Northwest
Van City, T. O., uh
I like chillin', Monday night raw watching
Me and Dannio at the Skydome
When its in town my peoples know
I just be regular, so haters start dissing
But steady, reciting my lyrics up wit my, uh, in their mouth
They swallowing, talking `bout they need some oxygen
People need to know Choclair don't move in no slow mo
In doing me like a gyne-colo-gist
Dollars in business
Now how you gonna feel when you see the 6, triple O,
Wheels start to peel
Swab dawg appeal
Y'all know the deal
If you don't ask my man
Why dawg, he'll tell you to circle round the spot
T-dot, represent like my Northwest connects, Rascalz
They make the cash flows indeed
I down the Goldschlager, big seed puffed up
Choclair with the...

Yo, we notorious
Ain't nobody can't bang with us
Rascalz, Checkmate, Kardinal and Thrust
Choclair comin' down wit the Northern Touch
Why you people wanna bang wit us?
Ain't nobody can't hang with us
Rascalz, Checkmate, Kardinal and Thrust
Choclair comin' down wit the Northern (ticka) Touch

(Checkmate)

Yea, yea, yea
I'm runnin' with these villianous cats, sir
Flod the dock while kickin' it all about rapture
You heard of killer cats like this
Smooth, dominate your sessions
Like o's get boxin' when I'm flexing
Dilligent, running up on ya
So what you thinking?
I got rhymes like politicians steady politicing
Stick a move, I don't age, yo I'm improve
Been maximizing my time like
We fighting in the spotlight
'Aight then
You want a battle you must be tripping
Whack niggas should be served an ass whipping
We fortify your life with five figgas
____ season over land
Got people in Jamaica, Trini and London, Australia
I bring the soul to the front like my alias
Curb style, we'll make your nigger buck wild
Cold flippin', sad trip then I dip and thats it

(Thrust)

Notorious superstar
Just to see you smile and enjoy yourself
I know you up in here to release your delf
So I'm fronting with the loop, whoever's got the wealth
Where you?
I'm in the V I, undetected like a stealth
Girl you add a shape, simply you add a figure
Can I zoom zoom, like a shot you pull the trigger
Whatever you've seen hunny I'll show you something much bigger
When its said and done, you'll be like "ooh thats my n---a"
Started from scratch, baby blued eyed figure
Shes a gold digger
On to Hilfiger, got juice you wanna swigger
We even answer for them, 'cause we're that much bigger
Thrust
A regular over style that you wanna represent, present
In otherwords I pay the rent
I'm the past to the present and the future
What ever suits ya, its all the same
this kid's got game

We notorious
Ain't nobody can't bang with us
Rascalz, Checkmate, Kardinal and Thrust
Choclair comin' down wit the Northern Touch
Why you people wanna bang wit us?
Ain't nobody can't hang with us
Rascalz, Checkmate, Kardinal and Thrust
Choclair comin' down wit the Northern Touch,
the Northern Touch baby"

- Rascalz "Northern Touch" from the album Cash Crop

Post Teen Crisis

This is one of my favourite songs. "Post Teen Crisis" by superGARAGE.

This is an unofficial video but at least you get to hear the song.

Enjoy!



"Rise up with a morning shower
Pile my face like a flower on... the floor
Check myself out in the mirror
Lines on my face so much clearer than... before

Try to let it go
Try to let it...

Tuck my face inside my blubber
Pull my sheet until the cover's on... my ass
Today I think I'll exercise
My body tells me otherwise... pass

Try to let it go
Try to let it...

Before I get old
(try to let it)
Oh, before I get old
(try to let it)
Hmmm, try to let it go
(before you get it)
Before I get old
(try to let it)
No

More there must be
More this can't be my... life
No - space - rat - race
Must - keep - this - place... tonight

Try to let it go
Try to let it...

Before I get old
(try to let it)
Before I get old
(try to let it)
Try to let it go
(before you get it)
Before I get old
(try to let it)
No

Try to let it go
Try to let it...

Someone's got to help me try to find myself before I get old

(try to let it)
Oh, before I get old
(try to let it)
Hmmm, try to let it go
(before you get it)
Oh, before I get old
(try to let it)
Oh, before I get old
(try to let it)
Oh, before I get old
(try to let it)
Oh, I try
(before you get it)
Hell, I try
Oh, before
(try to let it)
Oh, before
Ohhhh... I get old... Hmmm, I get old... I get old"

- superGARAGE "Post Teen Crisis" from the E.P. Duct Tape

Never Think Old

"My difficulty is that, as I get older, I refuse to feel older, or at times even act my age."

- Lester B. Pearson from the Liberal Leadership Convention held on April 4, 1968

For My City

I've been banging the new Frankie Payne mixtape like crazy lately. It's hot.



You can get this mixtape for free from the Real Frequency blog.

Check it out - http://therealfrequency.podbus.com/blog/2009/11/09/frankie-payne-street-wisdom-mixed-by-dj-p-plus/

Ghosts that Haunt Me

The sound quality isn't very good but I wanted to share this with you. This is the title track from the debut album by Crash Test Dummies.

I absolutely love this album. I can listen to it no matter what mood or state I am in. It has a nice feel good vibe to it.

I hope you enjoy it.

"There's a skeleton in everybody's closet
I can think of one or two in my own room
But I would like to introduce them both to you
You'd shake their bony hands and so dispel the gloom

'Cause you're so kind
I know you would not mind
You'd send away the ghosts that haunt me now
And the things I fear
Just wouldn't seem so near
And when I stroll out late night
There would be nothing rattling at my heels

There are nights when all my aching bones won't let me sleep
And demons come to plague me as I lie in bed
But I know if you were sleeping there beside me then
That you could fend them off and they would let me rest

There are nights
When the wind comes howling through my old place
I have dreams
And I wake up with the sweat pouring down my face
And I wait till the morning comes

There will come a time I fear when all my days are done
And they will come collect my corpse and bury me
And then I hope you'll come over to the Other Side
To join me in out new life, keep me company

'Cause you're so kind
I know you would not mind
You'd send away the ghosts that haunt me now
And the things I fear
Just wouldn't seem so near
And when I stroll out late night

There would be nothing rattling at my heels"

- The Ghosts That Haunt Me, the title track from the debut album by Crash Test Dummies

You Can't Tune it Out

Dr. Tom: "Infidelity, where does it begin?"

Author: "Interesting, tell us more."

"There is a woman, not my partner, and, to be honest, I find this woman to be infuriating - rash, she's headstrong. But, I don't know, deep inside she's like this melody that keeps playing back in my mind.

Erica: "You can tune out a melody."

Dr. Tom: "Oh, I've tried that. It's not so easily done. Ear-worms, I think you call them. You know those songs you get in you head and you just can't get rid of them."

Author: "Oh my goodness that happens to me all the time.

Erica: "You can distract yourself. You can turn the music up really loud, do everything it takes to avoid seeing... to avoid seeing what's right in front of you. Like with Leo"

Author: "Who's Leo?"

Erica: "My brother. He betrayed me and I didn't want to see it."

Dr. Tom: "He was a great brother, but he also had serious flaws... It's so much easier to live in denial and we do it to protect ourselves from the things that we don't want to acknowledge."

Erica: "But if we do that, then we're just living a lie. No matter what we tell ourselves."

Dr. Tom: "'The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.' - Winston Churchill"

- Being Erica Season 2 Episode 9 A River Runs Through It...It Being Egypt

Friend for Life

“I hope you’ll be my friend for life. There’s not too many people who touch my heart, and you have.”

- Jodeyne Higgins to her partner Ken Daneyko on last night’s Battle of Blades

Eat My Brain

"My droopy-eyed Madonna
a triple fire alarm
all the other rogues and darlings
get sent to the farm

I don't need to deceive you
'cause I feel no pain
maybe I should let you
come on and eat my brain.

There's an art to perception
so see it as you will
can you adjust my reception?
just give me the latest pill.

I don't need to deceive you
cause I feel no pain
maybe I should let you
come on and eat my brain.

I know you tried to forget me
well today is remembrance day
so if you're willing then let me
it's time to make your play

I don't need to deceive you
cause I feel no pain
maybe I should let you
come on and eat my brain."

- Odds "Eat My Brain" from quite possibly the best album ever released "Good Weird Feeling."

I can listen to this album over and over again and I never tire of it. As I got ready this morning, I started singing a song off of this album to myself with seemingly no provocation. I'm taking the album in the car now so I can listen to it on my way to work. In the meantime, you can enjoy this song.

Writing Helps You See the Big Picture

"Writing fiction is a way for him to step far enough back from reality to grasp its totality, the music of all the elements combined. The farther away you are, the clearer everything becomes."

- Monique Proulx. The Heart is an Involuntary Muscle. translated by David Homel and Fred A. Reed. Douglas & McIntyre Ltd, 2003. pg 261

All Fights Are The Same

"Conflict. It's everywhere you look. It touches everything we do, every relationship we have.

Isn't it funny how at their core all fights are the same - two people yelling, or accusing, or running away. Two people dong anything to avoid telling each other what they really feel.

Just talk when you want to run, reveal when you want to attack. It's so simple, so obvious, and at the same time, so incredibly hard."

- Being Erica. Season 2 Episode 3 "Battle Royale"

I really like this show. If you haven't been watching it, where have you been? Fortunately though, you can watch the episodes for free online to catch up for tonight's episode. Just go to http://www.cbc.ca/beingerica/

No Drink for Me

"No drink for me. I never drink unless I'm forced to. I'm not dependent on anything. Not wine and not psychotropics. Not nicotine or caffeine or sexine or lovine. To be cold turkey in this universe of anesthetized druggies can only be regarded as heroism. That's me: A heroine without a heroin habit."

- Monique Proulx. The Heart is an Involuntary Muscle novel translated by David Homel and Fred A. Reed.

What a beautifully written passage. I wonder if it is as poetic in the original French. I don't speak or read French so I am glad that this work has been translated.

I just happened onto this novel by chance as I glanced through the shelves at the public library. I'm over halfway through it now. I'm glad that I picked it up. I have already scribbled down four more passages that I will share with you soon.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Dead End Countdown

"Exiled and pushed away, lost in time
Always I’ll be this bitter person
who’s stuck right here, disillusioned.
Don’t stand by
If you don’t like what you see.
So once satisfied,
No I won’t take what you said to me

Give me some time, give me some reason
Make up your mind, cool off the fever.
Drama must die, so give me some way
To salvage this life,
Finally it’s over

You oughta stay away, till you see
What runs through me
Unless you get this game,
The only one I wanna blame

My promise is cold, you’ve never been told
There’s nothing to hide, I never did lie
There’s no way to win
When love is in vain
I won’t take what you said to me

Give me some time, give me some reason
Make up your mind, cool off the fever.
Drama must die, so give me some way
To salvage this life
Finally it’s over.

Dead end countdown (4x)

I know we’re stuck inside a dead end countdown,
With no communication.
Straight down, we’re drowning in the respiration.
We’re lost beneath the surface.

Give me some time, give me some reason
Make up your mind, cool off the fever
Drama must die, so give me some way
To salvage this life
Finally it’s over.

Give me some time, give me some reason
I know we’re stuck inside
Give me some time, give me some reason
Now we’re stuck inside

Dead end countdown (4x)"

- The New Cities "Dead End Countdown" from the album "Lost in City Lights"

If you like this song and video please check out the interview I did with the band a few weeks ago and download the podcast for free.

Make sure to subscribe to The Chase March Show podcast. I will be bringing you more in-depth interviews and great music once a month.

Brand New Low

"Over and over I keep wondering why
Then I give up and see that look in your eyes
Cause if I trip and fall,
I'll be to blame
And if I hit the wall,
I'll still be the same
Wasting your time with your so called friends
The ones you adore and the ones you pretend
And it's kind of sad and deranged
But it's not so bad that it can't be explained

Cause in my mind
It's all a waste of time
And there's no excuse at all
Then I realize, surprise
You were right all along

And I want to know
Have I gone too far
Have I sunk to a brand new low
And I want to know
If I've gone too far
Cause I've lost all my self control

Guilty as charged
I've been convicted and tried
Was it too much to ask for you to take my side
Cause there's nothing here left to defend
When it's always me
That you blame in the end

Cause in my mind it's the perfect crime
And there's no excuse at all when I realize
Surprise you were right all along

Nothing is what it seems,
To me you're sleeping without the dreams
Without you, nothing defines me

When I'm slipping away
It's only you that can find me
and I'm over my head again
I'm falling from end to end"

- Treble Charger "Brand New Low" lyrics and video from their album "Wide Awake Bored"

I love this video. I hadn't listened to these guys in a while but out on their "Detox" disc last night. As it was playing, I wondered why I hadn't played it in a while. These guys are great. Check 'em out!

Quest for Glory

"Brother please,
No more Pamela Lee's let's set it straight
I'm the biggest thing out of Canada til Quebec separate
And I never medicate, so y'all feel me if I'm ill
Like a lump - some dudes used to burn down trees
now they stumped by the simplest questions
And everything they think is deception
As they sink in depression
No telling where our life's headed
I'm light-headed
From scraps where I write/right hooks like a fight method
Like credit I'm indebted for my misuse
My life is like a magazine - got so many issues
God edits the stories
Still tryin' to find the father like Maury
He ain't with the stars like... Tori Spelling's
Spell is out like N.O.R.E.
On a quest for glory...
On a quest for glory..."

- Shad "Intro: Quest for Glory" from the album The Old Prince

I love the one liners in this song.

I'm the biggest thing out of Canada til Quebec separate

And I never medicate, so y'all feel me if I'm Ill

Like credit I'm indebted for my misuse

My life is like a magazine - got so many issues

This cat might be the nicest kid doing this hip-hop thing in Canada right now. If you don't know about him go buy this album. It is amazing.

No Mistakes

"Now, I made many decisions and made many mistakes
Walked on many lands and swam in many lakes
I did good, did wrong; I got props and pissed on
I was dissed by the system but I still tried to get on
No one could tell me that my style was unhealthy
I never listened, kept spittin' 'til the nay-sayers felt me
Lookin' back, I guess you haters helped me
My fuel, my drive,
All just increased when you hated on Classified
Here's advice, for every rapper startin' out
Don't release a record 'til you're happy with the bars you wrote
My fourth album's the first record I really liked
Before that my flow was too hype and I really couldn't write
So, I took the long way, we could argue all day if it's the wrong way
But sit back and let the song play
Props to Joe Bombay for hookin' me up at the start
I never had the talent but he knew I had the heart

Now understand, what I say
This year, no mistakes
Got here, no fate
Paid dues, won't wait
Made some mistakes and I'll probably make more
Just how it happens when you're try to go forward"

- Classified "No Mistakes" off the album Boy-Cott-In The Industry

This is a great video. I think I actually like it more than the album cut of the song. I like the acapella introduction and how the beat kicks in. I really like the lyrics in this song too. 

If you like what you heard, please head on over to Silent Cacophony to read the transcript of the interview I did with Classified. You can also download the podcast and hear the entire thing for free. So what are you waiting for?